LONG BRANCH – Jasmine Roach cried for answers. Who could have killed her 10-year-old daughter, Veronica, in a double homicide that also took the life of Veronica's foster mother?

"I want to know why? Why? She's 10 years old," Jasmine Roach said. "Is there that much hatred in the world?"

Authorities had little to offer Monday.

"We're asking anyone in the community who can help us with any kind of information, no matter how small that information might be to give us a call and help us to solve this crime," said Charles Webster, spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. "If someone knows that an argument happened, if someone knows that anything happened ... if anybody knows anything, please just give us a call and let us know what's going on."

Brenda Gordon hugs her son Plandin Hicks, 9, Monday, August 4, 2014, across the street from the home where Joan Colbert, 62, and Veronica Roach, 10, were found dead in their first floor apartment at 61 Lippincott Avenue in Long Branch Friday night.
THOMAS P. COSTELLO / Gannett

Veronica Roach, 10, is shown in a recent photo supplied by her mother Jasmine Roach. Veronica and Joan Colbert, 62, were found dead in their first floor apartment at 61 Lippincott Avenue in Long Branch Friday night.
HAND OUT PHOTO ~

Veronica Roach, 10, is shown in a recent photo supplied by her mother Jasmine Roach. Veronica and Joan Colbert, 62, were found dead in their first floor apartment at 61 Lippincott Avenue in Long Branch Friday night.
HAND OUT PHOTO ~

Jasmine folks is shown during an interview in Long Branch Monday, August 4, 2014. Her daughter Veronica Roach, 10, was found dead along with Joan Colbert, 62, in Colbert's first floor apartment at 61 Lippincott Avenue in Long Branch Friday night.
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Eddie Hernandez, 12, speaks Monday, August 4, 2014, about his friend Veronica Roach, 10 - who was found dead along with her foster mother Joan Colbert, 62, in their first floor apartment at 61 Lippincott Avenue in Long Branch Friday night.
THOMAS P. COSTELLO / Gannett

Veronica Roach's cousin Kevin Roach speaks about the 10-year old murder victim during an interview in Long Branch Monday, August 4, 2014. The girl and Joan Colbert was found dead Friday in a first floor apratment at 61 Lippincott Avenue in Long Branch Friday night.
THOMAS P. COSTELLO / Gannett

A newspaper headline is seen on the lawn outside 61 Lippincott Avenue in Long Branch Monday morning, August 4, 2014. A woman and girl were found dead in the first floor apartment here Friday night. LONG BRANCH, NJ
THOMAS P. COSTELLO / Gannett

A letter carrier heads up a walk lined with candles outside 61 Lippincott Avenue in Long Branch Monday morning, August 4, 2014. A woman and girl were found dead in the first floor apartment here Friday night.
THOMAS P. COSTELLO / Gannett

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He urged anyone with information to call the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office tip line at 732-577-8700 or, to remain anonymous, the Monmouth County Crime Stoppers at 800-671-4400.

This is the second double homicide in Long Branch in a little more than a year. A couple was stabbed to death on Sairs Avenue on March 25, 2013. That crime remains unsolved. Webster only would say his office always is looking for links between homicides.

Neighbors worried about the fact that the killer or killers have not been found.

But Webster said if anything had emerged in the case that led investigators to believe the community was at risk, his office would have notified the public.

"We don't believe the community has anything to be concerned about at this time," Webster said.

Maria Hernandez, who resides across the street, said the block always felt safe during the three years she has lived there. Now, she fears for the safety of her three children.

"I don't feel secure; it's not easy when you begin to fear whether your children will return alive," said Hernandez, whose 12-year-old son, Eddie, played with Veronica.

Jasmine Roach said she gave birth to Veronica at age 17 and turned to Colbert to raise the child.

"I was young at the time," Roach said. "I needed help."

Roach already had given birth to another daughter at age 16. The mother of five said Veronica and Colbert frequently visited Roach's other children and extended family.

Veronica's grandfather, Albert Williams, said Colbert was "like the Mother Teresa of the neighborhood."

Veronica's neighborhood friend, Eddie Hernandez, saw the 10-year-old girl last week as he sold icees on Lippincott Avenue. Veronica strolled over and paid Eddie 50 cents for one of the homemade-flavored ices.

That was the last time he saw 10-year-old Veronica Roach.

He tried to comprehend the slaying of the girl he also used to play football and tag with.

"It feels weird because she was a very nice girl and we played a lot," Eddie said. "There's not a lot of kids on this street. I just can't believe she's gone."

Eddie recalled Colbert as a nice woman, even giving his sister a pink battery-powered toy ATV.

A former neighbor, Madeline Nelson, said Colbert was the kind of person who always would offer someone without a car a ride.

"She was funny," said Nelson, a 67-year-old nursing assistant from West Long Branch. "She had a little laugh with everything she said."

A friend of Colbert's, Brenda Gordon, said she saw Veronica Wednesday at a day camp run by Aslan Youth Ministries that her children also attend. When she failed to show up for camp Thursday and Colbert didn't call to notify anyone, people at the camp grew concerned. On Friday, the camp bus stopped at Veronica's home and someone from Aslan walked up to the door and knocked. Hours later, police made the discovery.

Friends, family and neighbors praised the woman who lived to make 10-year-old Veronica's life a full one, they said. The girl took karate classes, was a cheerleader and played football with neighborhood kids, they said.

"When she got that little girl, she was like the light of her life," Gordon said, adding that Colbert had no children of her own.

A memorial was set up by friends, family and neighbors on the sidewalk leading to the 61 Lippincott Ave. home, where the foster mother and her foster child lived. One hundred candles of all types, some lined with prayers and images of Jesus, filled the sidewalk.

The porch of the home was festooned with Mylar balloons, some that read: "I miss you," "You'll be missed," "Thinking of you" and "I love you."

Contributing: Staff Writer Kevin Penton

Ken Serrano: 732-643-4029; kserrano@njpressmedia.com

CORRECTION

Lorraine Colbert is Joan Colbert's younger sister. In a quote, she called Joan Colbert "my mother, my sister, my best friend, my backbone." Her relationship and the quote were incorrect in earlier stories in the Asbury Park Press.